It's official- we're now a family of four!

Our court proceeding went very well today. Both the judge and the prosecutor were firm, but fair in their questions. Paul addressed the court when we were asked why we wanted to adopt Sasha and Misha, why Russia, what about the financial crisis and what would we do if we changed our minds. Paul spoke and answered questions for about an hour. He did very well and spoke from his heart. When my turn for questions came they were more about taking care of the children and our family. Our translator was amazing and was able to listen in Russian and translate in English at the same time. We started at 10:15 and were finished with the q&a by noon. The judge then left the court room to go to her chambers to determine her decision on our case. At 12:30 she returned and read a report that summarized the proceedings and at 12:48 our case was approved and we became parents to Sasha and Misha!

After court we celebrated by going to lunch at a very nice restaurant called The Pheasant. Then we visited our boys for about two hours. We started teaching the boys their first names, since Sasha and Misha are their nicknames. It was so cute, because when we asked who is Michael, little Misha would say "I am Michael" very emphatically. And Sasha would say "I am Alex" when we asked who that was. This will help us once the boys go to pre-school and summer camp, but they will always be Sasha and Misha at home and in our hearts.

Our court date is April 16th-- Yippee!!

When you least expect something to happen, it usually does. That's how it went with finding out about our court date on Friday....

Last week we received confirmation that the judge had received our paperwork the week of March 23rd, so we we told to expect to hear about our court date by the first week in April, based on the timing of past families. So when I saw our agency's name on caller ID on March 27th, I didn't think anything of it; I just thought that our case worker Michelle was checking in with perhaps a new piece of paperwork needed before our trip. (Trust me, there are always new items to obtain, update, redo, etc, which is another topic altogether.) So, when she told me that she had "the" date, I was stunned. And truthfully somewhat silent, which for me is very unusual, especially on the phone! It took a minute or two for it to sink in... this was real now, after over 3 months since our first visit we had our date! Of course, in my mind it was more like WE HAVE OUR DATE!!!!! then, HOLY COW, NOW WHAT DO I NEED TO DO? My mind raced and then communications to all of our family and friends began...

1. Call Paul and celebrate together over the phone.
2. Call Mom, and Mom & Dad & Grandma (Paul called his family, I called mine.)
   
3. Call my brother John in Texas. He's so supportive, I really love him a lot!
   
4. Call Aunt Marylynne- who has been under the weather lately, so I hoped my message cheered her up a bit.
   
5. Call Marisa- our Bridge of Hope friend who also hosted last summer. She has been holding my hand and calls me every Wed for the latest update. She and her hubby Nick are doggy-sitting Casey for us while we are in Russia, for which we are very grateful!! And Casey is eager to stay with Aunt Marisa & Uncle Nick for some only-dog attention! (Oliver is staying with grandma in F'dale and Princess is staying with grandma & grandpa in Willie Park, so all of our furry friends are set.)
   
6. Call Mary- my friend who has been on this journey with me from the concept of adoption over two years ago to the camp program last summer, through our trip to meet Misha and beyond. Can't wait for Auntie Mary to meet Misha and see Sasha again.
   
7. Paul said that he would call his brothers, but I was bursting with joy, so I called our sisters-in-law, Michelle and Nicole. Got to speak with Michelle right away, Nicole called back a little later. Very thankful to have family with kids already, because Paul and I have a lot to learn and they are very good about all of us getting together for family bonding!
8. Update my Facebook page- wrote something about doing cartwheels, which of course was figurative since I have never been able to literally do a cartwheel ever, even as a kid!
9. Send email to our aunts/uncles, cousins, friends, etc
10. Call Sue & Greg, who just returned from Russia on 3/25 with their new son Alexander, age 8. Also a Bridge of Hope family who we met through summer hosting last year. Hi Sara, we hope that you are enjoying your new brother! Congratulations on your growing family.
11. Call our neighbors so that they know to be on the look-out while we are away.
    

After our initial phone calls, emails, etc, last Friday, the business part of our trip kicked in last weekend and this week. Following is what we have done or need to do in order to get us onto the plane and into Birobidjan in time for our 4/16 court date...

1. See Dr Lee for our travel & learn session as well as get prescriptions and vaccinations before our trip. The tutorial was wonderful and he is a delight. So glad we found him.
   
2. Call Matt our CPA to get an updated income verification letter, notarized, (of course, almost every piece of documentation has required this plus county certification and then an apostille from the State Department!) Also need copy of our 2008 tax return to show at the US Embassy in Moscow prior to bringing our sons home.
   
3. Get updated medical forms from Dr Ferrara since ours expire on 4/5 and our court date is 4/16. Yup, notarized, certified and apostilled, (again!)
4. Make hotel reservations for Moscow. (Our coordinator is booking us in Biro, thankfully one less thing for us to do.)
5. Complete Visa applications and send with passports, pictures and money order fees to Visa coordinator for processing. No Visa, no travel, so we are happy to have Olga to help us obtain adoption business visas from the Embassy in DC!
   
6. Book airfare to/from Moscow and to/from Khabarovsk. (Birobidjan is then a 3 hour drive west of Khab. That should be a fun ride with the kiddos!)
7. Update home study as per US Embassy requirement going into effect on 4/1 (not a joke, this just came up on 3/31!) Rather than stating "minor correctable medical issues", the home study must specify each child's medical diagnosis. Thanks to Michelle for contacting Milena about this! Luckily this report just needs to be notarized, no certification or apostille on this one. Hurray!
8. Pack for us and the kids... this has been on-going for the past month or two. Did some shopping and have their clothes laid-out on their beds... Changing out some of the heavy sweaters for lighter clothing, as the weather will be in the 40's during the day instead of the negative temps we experienced in December. (Birobidjan is in Siberia, after all.)
9. Already bought and packed a duffle bag full of clothing donations for the orphanage.
   
10. Fix my suitcase, the bottom footer was missing upon our return in December. Bought jeans buttons at the craft store which should cover the holes left behind. We are traveling so long and far that it is not worth purchasing new luggage for this trip.
    
11. Install international calling software on Paul's laptop and test it out.
12. Collect DVD's to watch at night since tv programs are in Russian only. (22 days in region, need some entertainment at night.) Thank you santa for my portable DVD player!
13. Get a couple of books, same reason as #12
14. Continue listening to the Russian/English CD's to cram some more Russian vocab into my very willing but sometimes forgetful brain. This phrase I can't wait to say to our sons... "ya tavaya Mama, sveegda!" (I am your Mommy, forever!) In addition to "are you hungry..." do you have to use the bathroom" and other key phrases, I've also learned to count to 10 and learned my colors, in the hopes that this will be useful/entertaining on the plane rides! (With 8.5 hours from Khabarovsk to Moscow and 10 hours from Moscow to NY, we'll have a lot of time for talking and bonding with our boys!) I already "called" Sasha since our seats are two by two, so Paul will have Misha as his seat-mate. Misha clung to Paul in December, so this should work out fine. Can't wait to report back on our flight experiences!
    
15. Think of other things to do and accomplish before our flight out on Easter Sunday... bathe the dogs, clean the house, finish the laundry, celebrate Paul's Dad's 65 b-day, get our crisp, clean money together, clean out the fridge, notify vendors, bring key contact lists to run WelltodoBaby.com remotely, and so on... and so on...
    

More to follow soon!

XOXO- Deb